The sight left Dragon, who had been standing in the doorway the entire time, completely dumbfounded.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that his old friend Vegapunk possessed a side like this.
"My ass! Ow, ow, ow—!"
Lilith was finally lowered to the ground. She dropped to her knees with her backside raised, complaining nonstop.
Uta remained entirely unmoved. She allowed the electric drill in her hand to dissolve, planted both hands on her hips, and shot back without mercy,
"You didn't care when I was whipping you earlier. What happened? You can't handle something this minor?"
"You're supposed to be Vegapunk. Is that really all you've got?"
"Th-that's because I traded most of my inventions for gold!"
Lilith stood while clutching her backside, looking deeply wronged.
"And that bastard Cain gave me so many research topics that my inspiration went completely out of control! How was I supposed to waste time upgrading my defenses?"
As she spoke, however, her attention shifted toward Uta's ability to manifest objects from nothing.
Her eyes immediately lit up.
Lilith rushed over and began firing off questions without pausing for breath.
"What exactly is that ability? You can create things out of thin air? That's incredible!"
"Have you considered making anything else with it? Here, look at these blueprints. Can you reproduce any of them?"
"That power reminds me of a particular Devil Fruit—ow!"
Before she could finish, Cain brought a hand-chop down on her head.
He hurriedly stopped her before she could continue. Uta was already going cross-eyed merely looking at those complicated blueprints.
Cain knew exactly which ability Lilith meant.
Wasn't it the power of imagination associated with Luffy's Nika Fruit?
Something similar was possible with the Age-Age Fruit, and Uta's ability worked along roughly the same lines.
Even Uta herself could not explain the internal structure of the propulsion system she manifested in her combat form. She had simply created it based on what felt right.
In the end, it was another form of turning imagination into reality.
Still, Uta's situation was not exactly the same. Her abilities ultimately borrowed part of Tot Musica's authority.
Cain was unsure whether he should explain that to Lilith, so he decided to change the subject.
"Stop causing trouble."
Cain sighed helplessly.
"Anyway, what Uta just demonstrated wasn't solely the result of her Devil Fruit. Sorry, but I probably can't satisfy your curiosity this time."
"I see!"
Lilith rubbed her head but did not press the issue.
"Fine, then. There'll be plenty of opportunities to study it later! I'll ask again when you're both in a better mood."
She stood, brushed the dust from her clothes, and began enthusiastically explaining everything she had invented using the inspiration Cain had provided.
When the conversation reached the Poneglyph on the sky island, Lilith became especially excited. She even offered to decipher it for Cain if he wanted.
Robin was also staying with the Revolutionary Army, and the two had exchanged information. They could now fully decipher its contents.
Even if Cain discovered other Poneglyphs in the future, Lilith was perfectly willing to translate every word and share the information with him.
Why?
Because she now considered herself at least half a member of the Revolutionary Army.
As Vegapunk's embodiment of "Evil," how could she behave like the original, pretending to obey the World Government while secretly researching the Void Century in the shadows?
Lilith wanted to do it openly.
Scientific inquiry had no limits. Even if the World Government wanted to bury the truth, Lilith the Evil would drag it into the light for the entire world to see.
After making that declaration, she proudly thrust out her chest as though she had accomplished something extraordinary.
Cain had no idea how to respond.
'What the hell is happening here?'
The forces surrounding him were already ridiculously powerful.
With a single call, he could bring in Katakuri, Sabo, and Ace, along with Marco and the Whitebeard Pirates connected to them. Add Kuzan, who was currently traveling with him, and the group could rival an entire Emperor's crew.
He already possessed two Road Poneglyph rubbings.
If he asked Yamato to steal another from Kaido, that would make three.
Aside from the final one held by the man marked by flames, Cain was arguably closer to the One Piece than anyone else alive.
And now Lilith was volunteering to decipher them for him?
Was she serious?
Were all these people deliberately trying to push him toward becoming the Pirate King?
Cain's mouth twitched as Luffy's grinning face appeared in his mind.
'I'd feel terrible doing that to Luffy.'
…
Time passed, and afternoon soon arrived.
Cain and the others did not remain much longer. After exchanging a few final words, they left the sky island.
Lilith undeniably possessed an incredible amount of equipment, even if most of it had little practical use for Cain's group.
However, Cain did receive one extremely important device.
A Devil Fruit Extractor.
They could hardly bring every target to the Revolutionary Army whenever Cain wanted to extract a Devil Fruit ability.
The location of the Revolutionary Army's headquarters had to remain hidden, so Lilith had created a portable alternative.
The device resembled a pistol with a wide, funnel-shaped barrel and a small tray mounted on top.
A piece of fruit had to be placed upon the tray. Then, within a limited period after a Devil Fruit user's death, the operator could aim the device at the corpse and pull the trigger to extract the ability.
However, it came with several restrictions.
No matter how "evil" Lilith claimed to be, she was still Vegapunk. She would never stand by and allow Cain to murder innocent people merely to steal their powers.
Therefore, the extractor would only function on verified targets.
The individual had to appear on a list jointly recognized by both the World Government and the Revolutionary Army—people judged to be exceptionally dangerous criminals capable of causing tremendous harm to the world.
Against anyone else, the pistol would become nothing more than a useless ornament. Attempting to force an extraction could even trigger its self-destruction mechanism.
Most importantly, the device could only be used once.
Cain would have to carefully consider which ability was truly worth taking.
Lilith did not want to see him walk down the path of killing people indiscriminately. In a way, the restrictions were designed to protect him as much as anyone else.
Cain remembered what she had told him when handing over the device.
"Seeking power isn't inherently wrong. But if you lose sight of yourself while pursuing it, then whatever you gain won't be worth the price."
Thinking back on those words, Cain shook his head.
He had never been the kind of person who killed indiscriminately in the first place!
Besides, Byrnndi World—the current user of the More-More Fruit Cain wanted—was unquestionably dangerous enough to threaten the entire world.
Lilith had clearly worried far too much.
Not long afterward, Cain and Uta returned to the East Blue.
Their journey had delayed them for several days, but Shanks and his crew had already finished preparing the concert venue. Everything was ready to begin whenever they wished.
News of the event steadily spread across the East Blue and into the other seas.
Before long, the whole world knew.
…
"Bwahahahaha! What the hell is this?! En-chan?! Garp has a granddaughter now!"
Sengoku sat in the conference room brewing tea and laughing loudly.
"She looks exactly like Big Mom did in her youth! Is Garp really going to become Big Mom's father after all?"
Tsuru quickly redirected the conversation.
"Whether it's true or not, the photograph certainly looks convincing. Who knows what happened to Cain?"
"More importantly, Sengoku, how is the operation involving Caesar progressing?"
"Quite well. I left it to Zephyr, and according to his reports, everything has gone smoothly."
Sengoku ate a rice cracker and took a leisurely sip of tea.
"Caesar could rack his brain for a hundred years and still never guess that every child transported to Punk Hazard is actually a disguised Marine."
"Though we owe a great deal to that ability possessed by one of Zephyr's students. Turning them all into children made the entire operation possible."
Sakazuki glared at the two of them and slammed a fist against the table.
"Forget about that for a moment and focus on bringing Garp back!"
"He's still in Wano, and we have no idea what condition he's in!"
Sengoku swallowed the rice cracker in his mouth, glanced at Tsuru, then at Sakazuki, and burst into laughter again.
"Bwahahaha! I finally understand why Garp always laughed like this. It really does feel fantastic."
Then his laughter gradually faded.
"But seriously… that bastard Garp…"
He turned toward the window.
Sengoku said nothing more, but a faint trace of concern remained hidden in his eyes.